Road-working machine



Sept. 22, 1925. 1,554,400

' A. BRUHN ROAD WORKING MACHINE .11m 22, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. #4 car anon/v.

Sept. 22, 1925. A. BRUHN ROAD WORKING MACHINE t -Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1925 I233 Y. MME ruu N0 5 TT. m 1 56/ m Patented Sept. 22, 1 925.

UNITEDTSTA ALBERT iaminn, or s'r, tom-ruins", mr'nnnfsd'm.

none-weaned mamas.

Apnea-eon filer! June 22, 11925. seen m. 88,738;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT BRUHN, a citizen of the United .St-a'tes" residing at St. B'onifacius, iii-the county of Hennepin and State of lliinnesota, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Road- VVorking Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, cleaf,.and exact descriptionof the invention; such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itap lqertains to make and use the same.

his invention relates to a road-working machine and particularly to such a" machine having means for operating on the road su'rfaceto' fill tip iruts or holes formed therin.- As iswell knowmruts and holes are formed in the road surface both by the action ofsthe traflic thereon and by the weather. In operating on the roads hereto fore, it has been the common practice to use either a drag, which usually comprises a heavy member such as .a wooden timber,= which isudragged along the road surface at various angles to the longitudinal center of the road, 'or aroad scraper, which usually con'iprises a blade adapted to scrape the road surface and tobe disposed at various angles to: the center line thereof. Withthese ordinary road-working'tools,= it is quite difficult, at times,-. toapr'operlyfill up and eliminate ruts and holes'which form on the sides oftheroa'd. Mosh-standard forms of' road scrapers: on the market today have a. frame carrylng a revoluble member ,to.

which the blade is attached and this revolus ble member is usually providedwith means for raising the same atleach side thereof;

It is an object-of this invention to provide a roadsciziper or an attachment therefor, in which the above mentioned revolu-ble member is used but to: which is attached a; framecarrying a pair of laterally, sfiiacedand swingable front blades with Winch-may be combined a, rear blade.

Itis a further object of thefinv'ention to: provide a road-Working? machine; as set forth in the preceding-paragraplnin which the said laterally spaced; blades-are oscil-.-

latable about a substantially horizontal axis extending transversely :of the machine and of said revoluble member;

It is still'another object of the invention to provide a machine; as set forth in the preceding paragraph, in which ,the rear blade mentioned can be raised and lowered byswinging the blades about sa'id transverse horizontal axis; it being understood that. all of said blades are swingable about vertical axes disposed; respectively, between their ends so that said pair of front blades can be brought into substantial alignment; with each other and so that either of said front blades can be brought into substan-' tial alignment with said real-blade;- I

; These and other objects and advantages of theinv ention will be fully set forth in the following description made in 60111160." tion with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the difierent views; and in which Fig: 1 is a view in side elevationof a Ina-- chine embodying the present invention; Fig; 2 is a central vertical section through a po tion ofsa'id machine a ,Fig'; 3 's a planview of the auxiliary frame or attachment; 6 c Fig. l is a vertical section taken on the line L -4: of Fig. 3,v as illustrated by the arrow; and

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the wear on the roadsurface. a

Referring to ,the' drawings; particularly Fig. 1, a road-working machine illus tfated having a mainframe 6 supported by. the verticail members 6 'fro1'n axles carried on the wheels "Ta-11d 8. The front wheels- 7 are arranged to swing about a vertical axis; a fifth rwheel or a pair of plates 9 being provided for this purpose; which plates are relatively rotatable about a ,central vertical airis. A'm'ei'nber 10 is provided,- extending rearwardly from the top oi the upper plate 9' and connected thereto by a lolo'seconnection. The member 10 is pro-M vided with radially extending arms at its rear end having lugs 130 extending" downwardly and inwardly,= whichfrorm a bean ingand supporting means for a rotating gear ll. Al bracketlZ is bolted to the rear end of member 10=and is also formed to" extend under the gear li and to provide a bearing 12 for a vertical shaft 13 which extends upwardly through the frame 6 and is provided at its upper end with an operating hand wheel 14. The shaft 13 carries apinion 15 at its lower end disposed in the bearing 12 and arranged to mesh with the gear 11. The laterally extending arms of member 10 are provided with upwardly projecting lugs 10 at their outer sides to which are pivotally connected the upwardly extending links 16. The links 16 are formed as rack bars at their upper ends and adapted to move between standards 17 upstanding at each side of the frame 6. Shafts 18 are journaled, respectively, in each side of the standards 17 and carry pinions 19 which mesh, respectively, with the rack bars 16. The standards 17 also carry rollers 20 suitably journaled therein, which bear against the outer sides of the members 16. Each shaft 18 carries a gear 21 at its rear end meshing with another beveled gear 22 secured to the shaft 23 mounted in bearings 24 secured to each side of frame 6, which bearings 24 also have arms 24 in which the rear end of shafts 18 are journaled. Each shaft 23 is turned by a large hand wheel 25.

The structure so far described is, at present, used in substantially the form described or an equivalent form in various standard road-working machines. In accordance with the present invention, the gear 11 is provided at each side with downwardly projecting lugs 11. If the invention is used as an attachment for a standard machine, the lugs 11 will be separately constructed and secured in a suitable manner to the gear 11. If the machine is newly or originally constructed, the lugs 11 preferably will be made integral with the gear 11, asshown. An auxiliary frame 26 is provided, mainly in the form of a comparatively flat plate, which has a pair of upwardly extending lugs 26 adapted to be disposed adjacent the lugs 11 and pivotally connected thereto by a suitable pivot, such as the headed or nutted bolt or shaft 27 illustrated. It will be seen that this pivot member 27 has its axis extending substantially horizontally and transversely of the center line of the machine, as shown. The frame 26 is provided with apertures at each side thereof, in which are disposed vertically extending pivot members 28 having collars 29 resting on the frame 26, which pivot members extend through channel bars 30 and are threaded below the same and equipped with suitable nuts and washers 3'1 and 32,respectively. In order to form a rigid structure, the members 28 above the washers 29 are bent substantially at a right angle and extend forwardly and inwardly of frame 26 and are firmly secured adjacent the front end thereof by headed and nutted bolts The frame 26 has substantially semi-circular portions 26 and plates 34 are disposed beneath portions 26 bolted thereto and spaced therefrom by spacing members 35. The plates 34 with portions 26 form a semi-cir cular guidway in which is disposed and adapted to move the ends 30 of each of the channel bars 30. Said portions 26 are provided with a plurality of holes 26 and the portion 30 is provided with a hole adapted to register with any one of the holes 26". A bolt or pin 36 is provided for each member 39 and adapted to be inserted through the holes 26 and the hole in member 30, when said holes are in alignment, it being understood that the holes 26 also extend through the plates 34. Each channel bar 30 has a blade 37 secured thereto at its forward portion, so that said blades 37 can be swung about the axes of members 28 and held in various positions by the pins 36.

Frame 26 has a rearwardly projecting arm 26, to the rear end of which is bolted on its under side a bracket 38 having an inner downwardly offset end. A similar bracket 38 is secured beneath plate 26 at the center portion thereof. The brackets 38, together with offset portions 34 on the plates form a guidway for a circular plate 39 having a depressed center portion and having its outer edge moving in said guidway and supported in members 30 and 34. The plate 39 is centrally pivoted by a suitable headed and nutted bolt 40 to the arm 26, a spacing member 41 being inserted between the same and arm 26. The plate 39 has a plate 42 secured thereto, said latter plate having arms bolted to each side of plate 39 and extending across beneath the same. A rear blade 43 is bolted to the plate 42. The flange on plate 39 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially arranged holes 39 adapted to align with a hole through the arm 26 and a pin 44 is adapted to be inserted through the latter hole and any one of the holes 39 to hold the blade 43 in various circumferential positions. The plate 26 has secured adjacent its rear end and to its top side a plate 45 having a central raised semi-spherical portion in which is disposed a ball 46 carried at the lower end of a screw shaft 46, said shaft extending upwardly through an aperture in the top of plate 45. Shaft 46 also extends through a threaded portion 47 of a bracket 47 secured to the under side of gear 11 and projecting rearwardly therefrom and beneath the bracket 12. The shaft 46 is provided with an operating hand wheel 48 at its upper end and it will be seen that, when said hand wheel is turned, the rear end of frame 26 will be raised or lowered about the axis of member 27. In practice, the member 4" will be disposed quite a distance above the plate 26, so that the desired range of movement may be secured. The

plate 26 is provided" at its forward corners with lugs apertured tov receive the ends: of chains 49 for a purpose to be later described.

In. oaeration, it will be seen that, by m'an'ipu ation of the wheels 25, the sides of member lOand gear 11 can, respectively, be raised or lowered, the connection at the forward end of member 10 permitting this movement. The gear 11 can be rotated by manipulation of hand wheel 14 and when the gear is so turned, the frame or plate 26 will be turned and the same will bodily carry with it the blades 37 and 43. Each of the blades 37 can beturned about the axis of its respective member 28 and said blades can be held in various positions by the pins 36. It will be seen that blades 37 can be brought into substantial alignment with each other to extend transversely of the machine and each of said blades can be brought into substantial alignment with the rear blade 43. The rear blade 43 can be raised or lowered by manipulation of hand wheel 48.

Referring to Fig. 5,the full line 50 represents the contour of the road as newly constructed, the ditches 5O being provided at each side thereof. When a hole or rut 51 forms in the road, it is the common practice to pull a drag over the road which cuts down the surface of the road and moves the dirt toward the center. After several of such dragging operations, the road assumes substantially the contour shown in the heavy dash line 52. When holes and ruts 53 again I form in the road, 1t 1s imposslble to eliminate these holes-by means of the drag, as the shoulders of the road are practically worn away. It is then necessary to usethe scraper and scrape down-the center of the road, so that the same is brought substantially to the contour illustrated in the light dot and dash line 54. With applicants present machine, a rut or hole in the road at any point can quickly and easily be eliminated. "The blades 37 will be'adjusted to extend forwardly from their inner edges and enough dirt can be scraped or cut from the road at each side of the hole to fill the same. This dirt will move rearwardly along the blades and be distributed to the opening be tween the rear ends thereof. The rear blade 43 can be adjusted to smooth down this distributed dirt to the proper height. WVith such an operation, it is not necessary to completely change the shape of the road to fill up holes or bad places therein. The road can be worked at either side and over a comparatively narrow path therein. As stated, the front blades 37 can be brought into alignment and the machine can then be used as an ordinary blade machine or scraping machine, the blades 37 being rotated as a unit by the gear 11. The machine, of course, can be used as a scraper with the blades in various positions, such as in the position shown in 3. in this position when it is desired to reduce one side of the road which has become high. The frame 26 can be detached fronithe gear- 11 and can be used as a drag by attaching the same to the proper tractiolrmeans by means of the chains 49. It will be under stood that the blades can be given various lateral tilts by means of the wheels 25. The shaft 46 can be lowered so that only the blade 43 will come in contact with the road and small areas of the road can thus be scraped with the front blades 37 out of contact with the road surface.

From the above description, it will-be seen that applicant has provided a very simple and efiicient road working machine, which can be built as a new or original machine or which can be used as an attachment to standard road scrapers. is thus converted into a machine having much greater range of adjustment and use and one which can be used on practically all necessary operations on a modern road.

It will, of course, be understood that va rious changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above stated and in the novel parts and combinations of parts defined in vthe appended claims.

hat is claimed is: v

1. The combination with a road-working machine, comprising a frame, a revoluble substantially horizontal member carried thereon, and means on said frame for raising either side of said revoluble member, of a pair of laterally spaced blades, carried by said revoluble member beneath the same said blades being pivotedabout a transverse substantially horizontal axis, said blades being respectively swingable about vertical axes intermediate their ends, whereby they can align with each other transversely of the machine and form in effect one blade.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, and a blade carried by and beneath said revol- A standard road scraper The blades would be used uble member in the rear of said blades and being swingable about a vertical axis disposed intermediate it-s ends. i

3. The structure set forth in claim 1, a blade carried by and beneath said revoluble member in the rear of said blades and swingable about a vertical axis, said last mentioned blade being adapted to be raised and lowered about said horizontal axis.

4. A road-working machine having in combination a pair of laterally spaced blades and a blade disposed inthe rear thereof, said blades being swingable about vertical axes respectively located between their respective ends, said blades being can ried on a frame oscillatable about a substantially horizontal axis substantially aligned with the said vertical axes about which said pair of blades are swingable, said frame being rotatable about a. vertical axis located substantially centrally between its sides.

5. The structure set forth in claim 4, and means for swlnglng' sa1d frame about said horlzontalaxis to ralse and lower said rear 10 blade.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ALBERT BRUI-IN. 

